


A private paradise

by Moloko_and_cookies



Series: Ineffable [5]
Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Fluff, God Ships Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens), Ineffable Husbands (Good Omens), M/M, The Ineffable Plan (Good Omens), mostly fluff but also reflections, sharing memories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-05
Updated: 2019-09-05
Packaged: 2020-11-01 22:10:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20523680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moloko_and_cookies/pseuds/Moloko_and_cookies
Summary: Aziraphale and Crowley have moved to a cottage together. There, Aziraphale shows Crowley a surprise he had been preparing for him: a replica of the garden of Eden, where they met for the first time.





	A private paradise

Many people dream about leaving the noisy cities where they live and changing them for a comfortable cottage in some quiet village. It is less stressful, the air is less polluted and you can actually enjoy life’s little pleasures. That is exactly what Crowley and Aziraphale wanted after the Apocalypse that never happened. Besides, now that they were a couple, they needed a place where they could be together, and none of them where satisfied with what the city had to offer to them; everything was too small for them. It was impossible to find a house big enough to keep Aziraphale’s huge book collection and Crowley’s plants at the same time and leave some space for the angel and the demon to actually live there. The idea of getting rid of a part of their respective collections wasn’t appealing for any of them, either; they hadn’t even considered it. The best solution was to move to a cottage, so that’s what they had done.

Crowley and Aziraphale were about to spend their first night in their new house. It had been ready quite soon —one or two miracles were used during the move—, and Aziraphale had spent that day decorating every room and making sure that everything was in its perfect place. Now, he was running from one room to the next, moving his hands excitedly as he spoke with a big, bright smile on his face and Crowley following him with his hands in his pockets. Apparently, the angel’s joy was contagious and addictive, because the demon couldn’t stop staring at him with a smile too, although his was filled with love too —it had been a while since the last time he had smiled like that, and he only did so in Aziraphale’s presence—. Despite their radically opposite taste in decoration, Aziraphale had found the perfect style that satisfied both of them, and he was really proud, while Crowley just adored seeing his angel happy.

“And… my dear, this is one of my favourite rooms in the house…” Aziraphale announced, as his hand grabbed the door handle. He opened the door slowly, mysteriously, and lowered his voice. “I performed a little miracle…” Behind the door, the demon could see a room that was almost as big as the whole cottage, full of shelves with hundreds of old books stacked on them. It was the only room that could be described as purely ‘Aziraphale-ish’.

“Looks familiar…” Crowley’s voice sounds playful and he squints. “Did you bring your whole bookshop here, angel? I mean furniture and all?”

“I copied it.” Aziraphale corrected, blushing a little. “I lived there for too many years; I was going to miss it. And I needed space for the books anyway, so… why not? But I also performed a miracle for you and your plants, my dear. Let me show you.”

Taking the demon’s hand, Aziraphale guided him towards the garden behind the house. Luscious plants and flowers grew all over the place —some of them didn’t even grow in Britain and they certainly didn’t belong to Crowley before—. The birds seemed to love the garden as much as the demon, who stood in awe, still at the doorframe, while Aziraphale waited for him to say something, anything. However, for the first time in many years, Crowley was at a loss of words. The garden looked familiar, like the bookshop, or perhaps even more. He held very special memories about that place.

“You didn’t do it just for me. Am I wrong, angel?” Crowley whispered as soon as he was able to speak and move again. He strutted towards a specific tree in the middle of the garden. “You have copied Her creation. Are you sure this isn’t blasphemous or something like that?” Hearing that cheeky tone again, Aziraphale knew that Crowley was himself again. And that he had really loved the gift. As an answer, he simply shrugged, his eyes fixed on Crowley’s movements. The demon was analysing every plant, every flower, touching them with delicacy, in a way that he only did when he caressed Aziraphale’s skin. He wasn’t even that delicate with plants —normally it was the opposite—, but these were Aziraphale’s present, so he’d better treat them right and as lovingly as he treated the angel. “What a bad angel you are… copying God’s work…” Crowley continued, smirking mischievously at the angel while his hands run down the bark of the tree in the middle of the garden. He was using his tempting skills, Aziraphale noticed, and he couldn’t help but give in to temptation and walk towards Crowley, who was now offering the reddest, most deliciously looking apple from the tree. “I should have tempted you back then.” Aziraphale’s eyes locked in his while he bit the apple. “You have always been so easy to tempt with food…” Crowley added before putting his hand under Aziraphale’s chin. He observed the angel for a couple of seconds, with the same hungry look he had seen in Aziraphale’s eyes before biting the apple. “And other pleasures…” He finished with a low voice, almost a growl, and then he kissed the angel, revelling in the sweet taste of the apple in his mouth.

Aziraphale quickly reciprocated the demon’s kisses and caresses, and soon he was pressed against the tree, pulling impatiently from Crowley’s shirt. He couldn’t deny what Crowley had said: he was so easy to tempt with pleasure that it was surprising that he hadn’t fallen yet. With a last bit of consciousness before giving in completely, he came to the realisation that perhaps he hadn’t fallen because he wasn’t really that easy to convince; quite the opposite, there was only one demon who knew how to lure him, but he did it so well.

“Was that what would have happened if you had decided to tempt me?” Aziraphale asked, Crowley’s collarbone with his finger.

The light of the dusk, falling from between the verdant leaves of the trees, highlighted the amber of Crowley’s eyes. They were still under the tree, enjoying the sunset. They hadn’t even bothered putting their clothes on again —they were scattered all around the place—, because no one would be able to see them, so they could enjoy the moment as if they were still in Eden, when things such as modesty didn’t exist yet. Seeing Crowley like that made Aziraphale think that, for some reason, he still had the beauty of an angel, unlike many other demons.

“No…” Crowley responded. “That was what would have happened if I had tempted you _and _if you had accepted.” Aziraphale didn’t say anything, since he was too busy picking small leaves of grass from Crowley’s hair. “Let me help you, angel. Now you should say something angelic like ‘I’m an angel, I wouldn’t have…’” The angel remained silent, but he blushed. “Oh, so you admit that if I had tried to…”

“I don’t know what I would have done six thousand years ago, but now that I know you… You have always been this beautiful, of course. I’ve known that since the first day. But this isn’t only about your beauty or about temptation either.” The angel tried to explain; only causing Crowley to glance at him with pure adoration and kiss him. “Would… would you really have tempted me in Eden?”

“As if you didn’t already know…” Crowley chuckled. “You were my first option when they told me to go up and make some trouble. The beautiful guardian of the Eastern Gate…” Crowley ran his fingertips along Aziraphale’s jaw. Suddenly, his expression changed. The demon frowned and sighed. “But then I saw Eve…” His voice was now lower, and it was filled with disappointment. “I couldn’t believe what the Almighty had done to her… She created her from Adam’s rib? And then forced her to be submissive? Is that Her love for Her children? Please… Well, considering the fact that She didn’t want her creatures to be curious and independent and also what happened to Lilith and to Lucifer and the rest of us, it’s very on character, indeed.” Crowley sat up, promptly followed by Aziraphale, who stared puzzled at him. Should he say something or it was better for him to only listen? In all those centuries, Crowley had never told him the real reason why he had tempted Eve. “I liked Lilith. I met her, you know, after the Almighty kicked her out. She was nice, and we had a lot in common.”

Aziraphale nodded. Not only did he remember Lilith, but he also liked her. He would have never admitted it out loud, because he was afraid he would be punished for questioning God’s decisions, but he thought that She had been too tough with Lilith, who hadn’t done anything wrong —at least from Aziraphale’s point of view; the rest of the angels agreed with God—. At that time, Aziraphale had been afraid of even asking what had happened to Lilith, or even mentioning her. Human stories weren’t of much help either, because they were written under the influence of Heaven. Knowing that she had found Crowley and they were friends suddenly felt like someone had released him from something heavy. Aziraphale was sure that Crowley had taken good care of Lilith; after all, Crowley always said that he had fallen for asking questions, which was also Lilith’s sin.

“I wanted Eve to be free, like Lilith had been before. I didn’t think it was going to be such a big deal; although apparently it was for the Almighty.” Crowley continued. “At least, she and Adam were lucky enough to meet you and your flaming sword.” Now he was smiling again, proudly. They lied down on the grass again, admiring the way the sky changed its colour form a warm red to dark blue and purple.

“Crowley.” Aziraphale called after a few minutes of silence, when the moon was already visible. “I was thinking… You helped Lilith when she was expelled from Eden and, later, I did the same with Eve and Adam… And that was when we met. Do you think we are part of the ineffable plan? And I mean…”

“Angel, please, it’s called _ineffable _for a reason. And we are retired from all that crap anyway, so forget it and relax.” Despite his tone, tired and slightly annoyed, Crowley liked the idea, but just a little bit. He had thought about it many times before. It made him feel like he and Aziraphale were actually important, contrary to Heaven and Hell’s opinion.

“¿Crowley?” The angel called again, shyly, a few moments later. Crowley made a consenting sound. “You have never told me how you got into Eden. We, the guardians, were there to prevent demons from coming in.”

“Oh… It was easy… One of the angels was distracted trying to reach a pear that was way above his head.” While Aziraphale was glad that it was already dark so his flushed cheeks were invisible, Crowley’s smile was perfectly noticeable in his voice. That was his first image of Aziraphale, which had left him thinking that that must be the most heavenly of angels. Later, as soon as he saw Aziraphale giving away the sword, Crowley understood that they were meant to be together. Humanity had just been created and he already knew that they were nothing but pawns in the war between Heaven and Hell. Only he and Aziraphale truly loved and respected them. Perhaps the angel was right and God had designed them as guardians of humanity. On the other hand, Crowley preferred to think that they were the only writers of their own story.


End file.
